But Cleveland has played defense like hot garbage on a warm August day the last 46 games, splitting them 23-23

They almost lost to a Pacers team they have no business losing to, today.

I think the Bulllets give them a scare, but its still the same Finals; the East will be a much bigger grind than the West, where really only the Spurs have a solid shot at the Warriors, but are likely to be torpedoed by bad matchups before that happens. Maybe the Rockets have an outside puncher's chance, if they go crazy from 3....but that's also going to be what can break them, and make any series possible to lose, if they go cold.

ISO Joe and the Jazz just stole game one on the road without Rudy Gobert (pretty much). Gobert goes down for the game (and possibly the series) within the first 20 seconds of the game and the Jazz remained composed enough throughout the remainder of the game to win by two on a Joe Johnson buzzer beater.

JJ is the one former Razorback who can give Sidney Moncrief a run for his money in terms of best NBA career. Moncrief still has him beat (and should be in the HOF), but JJ has had a very good NBA career. Still going strong at (almost) 36 years old.

ISO Joe and the Jazz just stole game one on the road without Rudy Gobert (pretty much). Gobert goes down for the game (and possibly the series) within the first 20 seconds of the game and the Jazz remained composed enough throughout the remainder of the game to win by two on a Joe Johnson buzzer beater.

JJ is the one former Razorback who can give Sidney Moncrief a run for his money in terms of best NBA career. Moncrief still has him beat (and should be in the HOF), but JJ has had a very good NBA career. Still going strong at (almost) 36 years old.

JJ has had the greatest NBA career of any Razorback. Most All Star games, longer career, nearly double the points, higher average. That's not to say Super Sid didn't have a great career though.

JJ has had the greatest NBA career of any Razorback. Most All Star games, longer career, nearly double the points, higher average. That's not to say Super Sid didn't have a great career though.

Sorry, but I disagree. Sidney Moncrief had an injury-shortened career, would be a no-doubt HOFer if not for that reason. 5-time all-star and 5-time first- or second-team All Pro (JJ has 7 all-star games, but ONLY one 3rd-team All Pro) ... Sidney Moncief is a 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, an award they said was created because of Moncrief, plus he had multiple NBA All Defense team selections. During a 6-year span before ailing knees derailed his career, Moncrief was a Top 5-10 player in the league, something that Joe never was. Milwaukee won 8 out of 10 division titles with Sidney as their best player during the 80s, and the Bucks had the 4th-best overall record in the NBA that decade. Milwaukee retired his number.

Love Joe Johnson, and no doubt he has had better career numbers due to a big edge in longevity, but comparing the caliber of player when both were at their peak, Sidney was the superior player. He was a great NBA player, while Joe was a very good one. I'd say Sidney had the better NBA career, even though it was not sustained nearly as long.

Exactly. I'm still trying to figure out WTH went wrong the first 2/3 of the season. Did Hoiberg blow all of that development time leaving BP on the bench and ultimately sending him to the D League? Or, was there a problem with BP that he needed to be benched/sent down. Every since he came back, when he get's playing time, he balls. I think I heard the other day he had 5 double doubles in the last 20 games, now he's going off and they are riding him in the early 4th Qtr. I thought Hoiberg was the perfect fit for him when he was drafted because of the way FH had played Niang at ISU. He showed plenty of promise his rookie year and then the first 2/3 of this year you wondered if he wasn't going to be drawing an NBA salary as a D league player for the next 1.5 years. Great to see him representing and an NBA announcer giving a Woooo Pig after a 3!!

Exactly. I'm still trying to figure out WTH went wrong the first 2/3 of the season. Did Hoiberg blow all of that development time leaving BP on the bench and ultimately sending him to the D League? Or, was there a problem with BP that he needed to be benched/sent down. Every since he came back when he get's playing time he balls. I think I heard the other day he had 5 double doubles in the last 20 games, now he's going off and they are riding him in the early 4th Qtr. I thought Hoiberg was the perfect fit for him when he was drafted because of the way FH had played Niang at ISU. He showed plenty of promise his rookie year and then the first 2/3 of this year you wondered if he wasn't going to be drawing an NBA salary as a D league player for the next 1.5 years. Great to see him representing and an NBA announcer giving a Woooo Pig after a 3!!

Portis played alright all year, even before getting sent down-- his problem has always been rotation minutes. His efficiency and true shooting numbers are significantly up this year, but his PT has been down--- his numbers are virtually flat, despite about a 12% decrease in playing time.

Portis played alright all year, even before getting sent down-- his problem has always been rotation minutes. His efficiency and true shooting numbers are significantly up this year, but his PT has been down--- his numbers are virtually flat, despite about a 12% decrease in playing time.

The point was, why were there 17 DNP's in the first 48 games, why were there another 10-15 single digit minute games on a team that obviously could use help? How did he end up in the D League? That isn't a rotation issue......that is an obvious snub. I was wondering if anyone had some insight as to what the problem might have been. I'm wondering if the GM intervened and called him back up and told Hoiberg.....you are going to play him. I'm wondering if the GM wanted other people played over BP. Something was damn wrong. 14 double digit scoring games in the last 27 games, 4 in the first 55.

The point was, why were there 17 DNP's in the first 48 games, why were there another 10-15 single digit minute games on a team that obviously could use help? How did he end up in the D League? That isn't a rotation issue......that is an obvious snub. I was wondering if anyone had some insight as to what the problem might have been. I'm wondering if the GM intervened and called him back up and told Hoiberg.....you are going to play him. I'm wondering if the GM wanted other people played over BP. Something was damn wrong.

They traded Taj Gibson on February 23rd. Gibson wasn't playing badly, so it was hard to keep the rotation moving enough to get Portis minutes. Though, anyone with eyes who watched Bulls games could see that Portis had loads of potential, even in the brief moments he got. The D-League stint was a glaring example of Hoiberg not know what the hell he was doing with all those 4's and 5's. Now that Gibson is gone, he's getting minutes and making the most of it. Obviously, as you saw tonight -- he's got the potential to be a gamer.

The point was, why were there 17 DNP's in the first 48 games, why were there another 10-15 single digit minute games on a team that obviously could use help? How did he end up in the D League? That isn't a rotation issue......that is an obvious snub. I was wondering if anyone had some insight as to what the problem might have been. I'm wondering if the GM intervened and called him back up and told Hoiberg.....you are going to play him. I'm wondering if the GM wanted other people played over BP. Something was damn wrong. 14 double digit scoring games in the last 27 games, 4 in the first 55.

It isn't a snub at all; its an examination of the books, and to see what they had in Mirotic in particular; he's a relative NBA veteran medium-cheap contract-- under 6 mil-- but is it worth it to resign him this offseason; they could learn more of what they needed to, and potentially use him as a trade chip at the deadline, if they thought he had real value-- it turned out that he's going to get paid better than they're prepared to pay. They also had to maintain as much trade value as they could for Taj Gibson.

Its no accident that when they traded Gibson 55 games into the year, minutes at the 4 were suddenly much more available. Throw in that Hoiberg was happy with the energy, but not necessarily his adjustment to the NBA development curve, and its no wonder that he didn't play-- economics and basketball conservatism in a coach made it happen.

"He does it every game," James Harden said. "That's the reason why we're in the position that we're in. He brings it every game. Whether or not his shot is falling or not, he brings that intensity. Tonight he made shots, he rebounded the ball at a high level, he's just Pat tonight."

"Chicago's Portis plays the game of his life"

"He was one of our new, young guys that hasn't had any playoff experience that I wasn't worried about," Hoiberg said. "Because he's going to go out there and play with unbelievable confidence, he's going to play with swagger, he's just a kid that's going to go out there and lay it on the line. He plays with such effort and tenacity. He was hitting his shots tonight that was huge, we need every one of them. He stepped up big for us and hit clutch shots in the fourth quarter as well."

Yesterday it was Iso Joe and his game winner.

I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I do an NBA fantasy league with guys for a considerable amount of change so I follow players much more than root for teams. It was a fun 2 days of NBA playoffs. Really hoping our guys can continue with some success.......NBA player success will draw attention to a school much quicker than NCAA tournament success.